Subject: Re: example needed pls: `cygpath -c <HANDLE>'
From: Soren A <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 11:03:42 +0000 (UTC)

Soren A <[email-masked]> wrote around 02 Jul 2003 news:[email-masked]:

> Attachment: CygPathExpandSZ.reg
> Attachment: REGexpandSZgen.p

My newsreader is buggy, if I attach it makes the body text just
vanish. Here's what accompanied those attached files when I
hit "send" 10 minutes ago:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Dessent <[email-masked]> wrote around 01 Jul 2003 
news:[email-masked]:

> I think by default it tries to use short-filenames in some cases, and
> so %L means the same as %1 except it uses long file names.

Well you are so right. And your knowledge about this stuff inspired me to 
forge onward in pursuit of inspiration. I have dressed up your .reg file a 
bit (heheh) and now give it back to you ... mutated beyond recognition ...

(also attached to [previous] posting, so don't sweat)

----- 8< ----- snip and de-indent and de-wrap ----- 8< -----
 REGEDIT4
 
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathLFN]
 @="&Copy LFN Cygwin Path"
 
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathLFN\Command]
 @=hex(2):22,25,43,59,47,52,4f,4f,54,25,5c,5c,62,69,6e,5c,5c,62,61,73,68,20
,2d,63,20,5c,22,65,63,68,6f,20,2d,6e,20,60,2f,62,69,6e,2f,63,79,67,70,61,74
,68,20,2d,75,20,27,25,6c,27,60,3e,2f,64,65,76,2f,63,6c,69,70,62,6f,61,72,64
,5c,22,22,d,00
 
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathLFN]
 @="&Copy LFN Cygwin path"
 
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathLFN\command]
 @=hex(2):22,25,43,59,47,52,4f,4f,54,25,5c,5c,62,69,6e,5c,5c,62,61,73,68,20
,2d,63,20,5c,22,65,63,68,6f,20,2d,6e,20,60,2f,62,69,6e,2f,63,79,67,70,61,74
,68,20,2d,75,20,27,25,6c,27,60,3e,2f,64,65,76,2f,63,6c,69,70,62,6f,61,72,64
,5c,22,22,d,00
 
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathSFN]
 @="&Copy SFN Cygwin Path"
 
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathSFN\Command]
 @=hex(2):22,25,43,59,47,52,4f,4f,54,25,5c,5c,62,69,6e,5c,5c,62,61,73,68,20
,2d,63,20,5c,22,65,63,68,6f,20,2d,6e,20,60,2f,62,69,6e,2f,63,79,67,70,61,74
,68,20,2d,75,20,27,25,31,27,60,3e,2f,64,65,76,2f,63,6c,69,70,62,6f,61,72,64
,5c,22,22,d,00
 
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathSFN]
 @="&Copy SFN Cygwin path"
 
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathSFN\command]
 @=hex(2):22,25,43,59,47,52,4f,4f,54,25,5c,5c,62,69,6e,5c,5c,62,61,73,68,20
,2d,63,20,5c,22,65,63,68,6f,20,2d,6e,20,60,2f,62,69,6e,2f,63,79,67,70,61,74
,68,20,2d,75,20,27,25,31,27,60,3e,2f,64,65,76,2f,63,6c,69,70,62,6f,61,72,64
,5c,22,22,d,00
 
----- 8< ----- snip and de-indent and de-wrap ----- 8< -----

OK, "what's UP with this bizarre thing?" It is a REG_EXPAND_SZ -type
REGEDIT .reg file instead of using easy REG_SZ -type entries. The
expansion encoded is of a variable %CYGROOT% which must be present
in the Windows "master" environment, so that the Registry
_always_ has access to it. I set it in my Windows9x autoexec.bat
file of course, and under NT/2K/XP you can use the ControlPanel|System.

I really feel that %CYGROOT% is a broadly useful thing to do. Point it
at the top (mounted as /) of your Cygwin installation and you'll always
have programmatic access to the Cygwin location from outside in the
'doze wilderness. It's always nice to know where your safe haven is
located, no? 

This is a typical Cygwin installation example of %CYGROOT%:

   SET CYGROOT=C:\cygwin

(in autoexec.bat).

So when I run the file above (I named it "CygPathExpandSZ.reg"), the
Registry entries thus created are expanded with the result that whatever
is in %CYGROOT% gets prepended to locate bash in cygwin's /bin. This
makes your .reg concept portable without manual editing, to any system
that has the %CYGROOT% variable defined in the env (obviously that's not
very many since this isn't any part of Official Cygwin). Since you
cannot (easily) read it you'll have to trust me that what I've described
is what it does ;-). But here's the file _before_ creating the right
kind of entries (this *will not work* as a .REG file, it could be termed
"Registry psuedo-code"): 

----- 8< ----- snip ----- 8< -----
 !nope!REGEDIT4 messed up by my news client!
 
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathLFN]
 @="&Copy LFN Cygwin Path"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathLFN\Command] 
@="%CYGROOT%\\bin\\bash -c \"echo -n `/bin/cygpath -u 
'%l'`>/dev/clipboard\" "

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathLFN]
@="&Copy LFN Cygwin pa th"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathLFN\command]
@="%CYGROOT%\\bin\\bash -c \"echo -n `/bin/cygpath -u '%l'`>/dev/clipboa 
rd\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPa thSFN]
@="&Copy SFN Cygwi n Path"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\CygPathSFN\Command]
@="%CYGROOT%\\bin\\bash -c \"echo -n `/bin/cygpath -u '%1'`>/dev/cli 
pboard\""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathSFN]
@="&Copy SFN C ygwin path"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shell\CygPathSFN\command]
@="%CYGROOT%\\bin\\bash -c \"echo -n `/bin/cygpath -u '%1'`>/de 
v/clipboard\""

----- 8< ----- snip ----- 8< -----

I manually calculated all the hex bytes with a slide rule. Hah!
What a liar! Actually I wrote a Perl tool to generate the REG_EXPAND_SZ
entries needed. That tool is attached to this message and can also be
seen discussed on perlmonks.org (hint: monk "Intrepid").

  Best Regards,
   Soren A.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 
"So, tell me, my little one-eyed one, on what poor, pitiful,
defenseless planet has my MONSTROSITY been unleashed?"
                       - Dr. Jumba, Disney's "Lilo & Stitch"
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